An MLA citation generator turns the details of a source into a citation formatted in MLA style. The 9th edition of the MLA Handbook builds every entry from the same set of core elements: author, title of source, title of container, other contributors, version, number, publisher, publication date, and location. Which elements apply, and whether a title is in quotation marks or italics, depends on the kind of source.
A source cited in an MLA paper appears in two places:
Our MLA citation generator creates both. Writers Per Hour built it as a free tool alongside its essay writing service, and it does not ask a language model to “write” a citation: every entry is assembled from fixed MLA 9 rules, so the same source details always produce the same result, with nothing guessed and nothing made up.
It runs in your browser on desktop, tablet, or mobile, with nothing to install and no account to create.
The generator supports seven source types that appear most often in student papers:
For each one it applies the MLA container system: a web page sits in its website, an article in its journal, a chapter in its book, a video in its platform. The container is italicized, and the title of the part inside it goes in quotation marks.
MLA in-text citations are shorter than most students expect: the author’s last name and the page number, with no comma and no year. The generator produces both forms for every source:
When a source has no author, the in-text citation uses a shortened title instead, in quotation marks or italics to match the entry. When it has no page numbers, the name stands alone.
The generator takes care of the details that cost points most often:
Titles keep the capitalization you entered or that was found. MLA uses title case, so check that your titles follow it before you submit.
MLA does not treat ChatGPT, Claude, Gemini, or any other tool as an author. Instead, the Works Cited entry describes what you asked and where the answer came from, following the MLA Style Center’s guidance on citing generative AI:
The in-text citation uses the first words of the prompt description. Your instructor may also ask you to explain how you used AI, and to verify anything the tool produced.
Add every finished citation to My Works Cited and the Writers Per Hour generator keeps the list for your whole paper. You can:
Your entries are stored only in this browser and are kept separately from the APA generator’s list, so opening one tool never changes the other. They stay after you reload the page in the same browser. They don’t sync to other devices, and clearing your browser data removes them, so copy or export your list when you’re done.
When your list is complete, export it to a new Google Doc and keep writing there. The document is headed Works Cited, the entries are in alphabetical order, and the page is double-spaced with a hanging indent, as MLA asks. Google Drive access is requested only when you choose to export, and only for the files this export creates. Each export makes a new document and gives you a direct link to it. Signing in with Google is optional: you can create citations and build your list without a Google account, and if you decline access, your list stays in your browser.
Automatically found details can be incomplete or wrong, and some websites provide very little metadata. Before you submit, check the author, title, container, publisher, date, and location against the original source. The Writers Per Hour generator formats citations in MLA only. It doesn’t check plagiarism, write papers, or confirm the facts inside your sources.